The case involved a woman, a sophomore, who had met a player on Stanford’s powerhouse football team at a fraternity party one Saturday night. They went back to her room where, she said, he raped her. He said they had consensual sex.

There was a hearing in front of the university’s kangaroo court in 2015. Then there was some litigation in a government-run courthouse: “After the case ended, she sought a temporary restraining order in state court against the man.” Now there is this epic-length New York Times story with more than 1400 comments (here’s mine:

This is a good argument for colleges to stop running sports teams, dormitories, etc. If they were to focus on teaching they could probably do a better job at it. With all students living in private housing, an alleged rape (unless it occurred in a lecture hall during a lecture) would be purely a matter for government law enforcement personnel.

Even before we add rape adjudication into the mix, how can managers who are trying to run a Four Seasons-grade hotel and restaurant complex and also NFL/NBA/MLB-grade sports teams also have attention left over to try to improve the way that education is delivered?

).

[I wonder if my comment is correct, though. The Obama Administration in 2011 ordered colleges standing under the shower of federal cash (e.g., loan subsidies) to set up kangaroo courts. Might that order apply even to a college with no dorms or sports? So the college with no way to monitor what students are doing after class has to set up a court to hear about stuff that happened off campus?]

How much administrative and legal process and media attention can a society afford to invest in after late-night private encounters between 20-year-olds before it becomes a serious drag on GDP growth?

toucan sam

toucan sam: The Obama Administration forced them into the rape adjudication business with their 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter. The only question is whether they can get out of it if they don’t run dorms, etc. (What if it is an online-only school? Two students decide to fly and meet each other?)

superMike: In theory there is employment-at-will in the U.S. so a company could just fire Employee A if Employee B alleged a rape. (Though of course Employee A could also sue the company alleging that the firing was motivated by race, gender, age, etc.) I’m not sure why a company would need a kangaroo court.

anonymous

Time to bring back the old parietals – mandatory that all males stop at the bell desk to be announced before being invited upstairs – as either a “caller” (datable male) or a visitor (anyone else). The lady comes down to the bell desk to identify her caller before inviting him up to her room. During the gentleman’s visit – the door stay open the required amount. Three feet must remain at all times on the floor. The headmistress rounds the dorm regularly to see that the rules are enforced. There is a curfew. Freshman and sophomores have roommates. (and then there is the story about how my roommate’s grandmother went out rowing on the lake to have some privacy with her “caller” (her grandfather) and somehow capsized the rowboat).

Mike

I’ve been out of the dating game for many years, but if I were still on the market, I would simply pull out my cell phone and film my future partner/one-night-stand and have her say, “I can’t wait to f*** you tonight.”

Or even a text: “I agree to sleep with you now.” That would even include a timestamp!

Why is this not common in college? It could lead to a much lower rate of he-said/she-said rape.

Jack

I’ve said something similar for years. If I were Czar I’d ban balls of any kind from public universities. No sports on campus. None. Every penny of tuition goes toward improving the quality of learning. The sole mission statement for each campus is simple: “We create taxpayers.” Every course shall have written justification explaining how the course supports the mission statement. Each course justification must be approved by a mixed discipline panel before the course is approved and the justification released for public review.

This will never happen.

Tom

As we have amply seen, co-ed is a dangerous failure. Making the universities single-sex again would certainly help — let the students focus on their studies. For example, men (who are in the minority) could be moved to a satellite campus. Perhaps it would be even better to also segregate by sexual preference.

However, I’m more surprised the university is permitted to have an amateur kangaroo court ruling on serious crimes. What’s up with that?